The Raising of Lazarus: Power Over Death

The raising of Lazarus is one of the most dramatic miracles in the Gospels — Jesus calling a man who had been dead four days out of his tomb. But it's also a deeply human story of grief, delay, and comfort, and it reveals Jesus as the one with power over death itself. Here's the account and its meaning.

A beloved friend dies

Lazarus, a dear friend of Jesus, fell gravely ill. His sisters, Mary and Martha, sent word to Jesus — but Jesus deliberately waited two days before going, and by the time he arrived, Lazarus had been dead four days. The sisters were heartbroken, and both said the same aching thing: 'Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.' It's the cry of everyone who has wondered where God was.

'I am the resurrection, and the life'

To grieving Martha, Jesus made one of the greatest claims in all of Scripture: 'I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.' He didn't just offer to do a miracle; he declared that he himself is the answer to death. Resurrection isn't only something he does — it's who he is.

'Jesus wept'

Then comes the shortest and most tender verse in the Bible: 'Jesus wept.' Standing at his friend's tomb, surrounded by grief, Jesus — who knew he was about to raise Lazarus — still wept. It's a profound comfort: Jesus enters our grief, weeps with us, and is moved by our sorrow. He is not distant from our tears.

'Lazarus, come forth'

Jesus went to the tomb and, after praying, called out with a loud voice: 'Lazarus, come forth.' And the dead man came out, still wrapped in grave clothes, alive. The One who is the resurrection and the life had proven it, giving a preview of his own resurrection and the hope of all who trust him. Death itself obeyed his voice.

The raising of Lazarus reveals Jesus as the Lord over death, who weeps with us in our grief and calls the dead to life. His delay was not indifference but purpose — that a greater glory and a deeper faith might come. For anyone grieving or afraid of death, this story holds the greatest hope: the One who called Lazarus from the tomb is 'the resurrection, and the life,' and in him, death does not have the final word.